A Dog’s Guide to a Happy Life

Happy Life Tip 1 – Live in the Moment

It is very easy to get lost in the details of work and day to day life. I am a worrier by nature, and sometimes, even small events at work or at home cause me a fair amount of stress and unhappiness.

Once something bad occurs, it can be difficult to pop out of it, and retain balance and objectivity. When I am in one of my “black moods”, it is easy to just spiral down and get into an even “blacker mood”. Small things that otherwise would not bother me, suddenly become big issues.

When such moments arise, my dogs really anchor me to the present and remind me to enjoy not just the big stuff but all the little moments in-between.

Dogs, Life, Happiness - Live in the Moment.

In his book The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama talks about curbing our desires for material things. If we always desire more, it will be difficult to appreciate what we already have. Dogs remind us of this important lesson just by being who they are – happy, goofy, always ready to play, and always appreciative of a good tummy rub.

Easy to say, but very difficult to implement. Dogs, however, make living in the moment seem easy, because that is what they naturally do, every second of the day. My dogs help me stay connected to the world around me and provide me with a fun and sometimes very demanding activity to take my mind away from my troubles.

Sadly, our current society and culture is one that is very steeped in the use of aversive techniques. If you want some examples, just peruse any online forum page. We value the negative so much so that insults commonly pass for wit and arrogance passes for intelligence.

Our education system, unfortunately, encourages “critical thought” with a much greater emphasis on the “critical” rather than the “thought“. Opps, there I go again, trying to pass an insult off as wit!

I too grew up in that education system, and even though I know positive reinforcement is better, it is still extremely difficult to use such techniques in practice.

If you treat others in a positive manner, you will feel a lot better about yourself.

Happy Birthday Sephy and Shania!

When I interact positively with my dogs, I feel much happier.

In his book, The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) talks about the importance of redirecting negative energy (e.g. jealousy, anger) into a positive direction to achieve a more balanced and happy life.

In a social encounter we tend to ignore neutral and sometimes even positive behavior. For example, If someone is sitting quietly beside us at the airport (neutral behavior), we ignore them. If someone is trying strike up a friendly conversation with us (positive behavior), we are usually too busy and reply in monosyllables, and ultimately ignore them.

On the other hand, any perceived negative behavior often gets an explosive negative response. For example, if someone is talking loudly on the phone, or is monopolizing the shared armrest, we get irritated, annoyed, or even angry.

The Dalai Lama points out that this negative energy hurts our own quality of life. In contrast, if we choose to respond positively to a neutral or positive stimulus (e.g. be friendly and strike up a friendly conversation with the person next to us), and ignore the negative stimulus (e.g. let our neighbor use the armrest, after all, its not such a big deal); then at worst we walk away from the social encounter in a neutral state of mind, and more likely we would have had a pleasant conversation and a positive social encounter.

Negative energy hurts our own quality of life.

Happy Life Tip 3 – Control the Force

Happy Life Tip 3 – Control the Force.

Dogs are extremely sensitive to the energy/force of the people and animals around them.

Dogs are extremely sensitive to the energy/force of the people and animals around them. When I am angry, or stressed, my dogs pick that up immediately and reflect the same energy, except with much greater gusto!

Therefore, I must control my energy and always remain calm when I am with my dogs, especially when they are stressed. This is a very difficult lesson to learn, because I have a bad temper, that can be challenging to control. But I know that if I lose my cool, things will get a lot worse, and my dogs may become very unhappy and unbalanced. This motivates me to try and control my own negative force.

Dogs can sense your inner energy/force so it is not possible to pretend with them. Which is a good thing, because you cannot pretend with yourself either. If you just suppress the bad energy, rather than control and dissipate it, the bad stuff will resurface at some later time. Too much suppression, is unhealthy, and may cause unexpected eruptions down the road.

Even though it has been challenging to control my bad energy, I find that it has brought good improvement to my quality of life. I commonly say many things, in anger, that I later regret. It is much better not to say anything at all. Even Jedi knights have to learn to control the Force.

May the Force be with you.

Even though it has been challenging to control my bad energy, I find that it has brought good improvement to my quality of life.

Happy Life Tip 4 – Let It Go

I think that dogs and the young are generally happier because they do not have emotional baggage. Holding grudges may sometimes hurt the target of our grudge, but most often, it only hurts us, and sometimes those who love us most.

Dogs do not hold grudges. There are some dogs who have been terribly abused by their owners, but they still respond with a smile and a lick to everyone they see.

We should take a chapter from that book.

I have found that simply ignoring and avoiding nasty people work best. Sometimes this may be difficult, but actively thinking of something else, or doing a fun activity usually pops me away. I just play with my dogs or look through their pictures. Sometimes I write or draw.

If we practice forgiveness and just let it go, we will be happier, have more friends, and have more memory cells available for the good things in life.

If you practice forgiveness and just let it go, you will be happier, have more friends, and have more memory cells available for the good things in life.

Happy Life Tip 5 – Laugh, and the World Laughs with You

While current research does not definitively show that laughter actually improves our health, it undeniably improves our quality of life. As we get older, however, it is easy to leave humor behind.

My dogs remind me to laugh many times every day. My Shiba Inu has this one move where he puts his head down on the ground with his butt sticking up in the air – it is just too precious. He thinks it is such a great “move” that he does it all the time. Sometimes he flips over and lands on his back. Dogs have so many goofy antics that you cannot help but laugh.

If you don’t have a dog, remember to share laughter with your family and friends.

Happy Life Tip 5 – Laugh, and the World Laughs with You

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Comments

Your Shiba is so adorable! I would like to photograph you both together. What spoke to me most about your post is that it is completely true. The reason I love dogs is that they are honest, you cannot pretend with them, and they can teach us so much about living a happy life. I will be linking to your site from mine. Thanks for the thoughtful article and keep blogging~

Shiba – I think right now Kevin would drown in the hub overload. Too many doing the challenge … simply loadsssssss of new hubs appearing everyday … everyone trying to keep up and read a bit of everyone.

The Dalai Lama is right; redirect that negative energy into a positive force. However, sometimes we just need to vent and let it OUT! That is OK too as long as it is done in a non-hurtful manner. Then let it go, and get on with life. My prescription—laughter is the best medicine…

Hi Janetta, Always so good to hear from you! Very glad to hear that your power is back. Does this mean you are going to take part in the Hub Challenge? I set my own challenge of sprucing up my older hubs. 70 hubs in one week!

rchicaferro, So very well said, and so very true. I must put it in the hub. Dogs actually help a lot in terms of making people more sociable. Bf. dogs I hardly knew any of my neighbors, and now I know most of them Btw. am still thinking about your previous thought provoking comment – I may have to write a hub about it!

James, Glad you enjoyed it. So happy to meet another dog person Dogs are so much better than dragons!

When I pass someone walking a dog I always wave at the dog first – the usual response is the lowered ears and wagging tail – – a happy dog always brings a smile from their human – – how much improved the world be if more of us lowered our ears and wagged our tail – -